Accessing the Internet in Residence Halls
Students who use Internet access services at Penn State have two choices:
Ethernet or modem and phone line. Typically, Ethernet is used on campus to
take advantage of high-speed connection to Penn State’s network and
the Internet, while a modem and phone line are used for connections off campus.
- In Residence halls: If you wish to use your computer in the residence
halls, you should request an Internet connection, a very high-speed connection
to the Penn State network and Internet. This type of connection is vastly
superior to a modem connection: it's up to 100 times faster than the fastest
modem you can buy--and won't tie up your phone line. You can request a
residence hall Internet connection by using the Housing and Food Services
form at
https://www2.absecom.psu.edu/HFS_SIBC/LOGON/WINDOW_LOGON.cfm
on the Web.
To take advantage of the Ethernet connection, you must have a 10BaseT
Ethernet card installed in your computer. If you don’t already have
an Ethernet card, you can buy one from the Computer
Store in 12 Willard Building. There are a number of different cards
available depending on machine type, so if you’re not sure what
kind of card you need, get out your computer owner’s manual and
take it with you to the Computer Store. A consultant will help you determine
the correct Ethernet card for your machine. The Ethernet cards offered
by the Computer Store have been tested to ensure that they will function
in the Penn State computing environment.
There are many combinations of computers and Ethernet cards—but
not all will work easily in the residence halls. The following computer
systems and Ethernet cards have been found to work best:
Macintosh Computers
The recommended minimum system configuration requirements are 128MB of
memory and a 6G hard disk. Macintosh computers should be running System
8.6 or higher.
Windows Computers
Windows computers should be running Windows 98, Windows ME, Windows NT,
Windows 2000, or XP. To use all of the available resources you will need
64 MB of memory and a hard disk.
The following Ethernet cards are recommended for IBM compatible computers:
ISA Bus
• 3Com Etherlink III
PCI Bus
• 3Com Etherlink III, Netgear PCMCIA/PC Card (Laptops)
• 3Com Etherlink III
We strongly advise you to follow the above guidelines when obtaining an
Ethernet card. While other Ethernet adapters may work, wide variations
in the documentation, configuration methods, and system resource requirements
can complicate, delay, and, in some cases, preclude a successful network
connection when using such devices.
Computer consultants in the residence halls can help install and configure
your equipment. See the section Residence
Hall Internet Connections in the Your
Guide to Information Technology Services for details.
Accessing the Internet Off campus
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